Mr. Oka Motoyuki, who is also the President of the Sumitomo Corporation, told the Vietnamese PM that, over the past year, Japan has worked with the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment in effectively realizing the first two phases of the Việt Nam-Japan Joint Initiative to improve the investment and business environment in Việt Nam. In 2007, Japan’s total investment in Việt Nam is worth of US $1.3 billion, increasing by 40 percent against 2006. Many Nippon Keidanren economic groups, including Sumitomo, now want to expand their operation in Việt Nam. Especially, Mitsubishi is planning to build a factory producing spare parts for small aircraft in the Hà Nội-based Thăng Long Industrial Park. This is the first step in Mitsubishi’s plan to found a small airplane building factory in Việt Nam.

PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng highly lauded the Japan-Việt Nam Economic Committee for its contributions to the strengthened strategic partnership between the two countries. He expressed his hope that the Committee would continue to play an active role in boosting bilateral ties.

By Xuân Hồng